Fancy Dress Costumes

Origins of Fancy Dress Costumes

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term “fancy dress” as “a costume arranged according to the wearer’s fancy, usually representing some fictitious or historical character.” The term dates to the Victorian era. Prior to that prim reign, Britons had enjoyed masquerade balls like their Italian friends.

However, such balls were seen as encouraging wild and lewd behavior, which was frowned upon in Victorian England. Since the elite still wanted to have a good time, they developed costume parties that discouraged the use of masks and termed them “fancy dress” balls, so as to broadcast to everyone that these were fun, but socially acceptable, parties.

Since provocative costumes could not be worn, party-goers opted for historical or literary-themed costumes, such as Shakespearean characters. A theme might also be seasonal, such as “winter,” which allowed people to adorn themselves with snowflakes and icicles. Queen Victoria was a fan of the parties and threw them frequently. Since people couldn’t be outrageous, they opted for being clever, elaborate or romantic.

Modern Fancy Dress Costumes

Today, the term is used for any sort of costume event, and any sort of costume is acceptable, unless of course there is a theme. Increasingly, the British celebrate Halloween with the same exuberance as Americans, so purveyors of fancy dress rental shops are doing better than ever.

Sometimes, a UK-based online shop will have a better or more varied selection than an American shop, especially if you want to dress like a character from a British TV show. Plenty of costumes from Doctor Who and Little Britain can be found with ease, and a little extra hunting should yield you some Monty Python and Absolutely Fabulous costumes, among others.

Classic Fancy Dress Costumes

If you’re interested in dressing like a character out of literature or history, or some combination thereof, try shopping online at Measure for Measure. This is a remarkably well stocked and reasonably priced purveyor of fancy dress costumes in a variety of categories, including historical, fairytale and storybook, retro, TV and film, Christmas and national dress.

Their historical wear is further divided by ancient, Viking, medieval, 18th century and Victorian. The medieval costumes tip into the Renaissance era, as you can get a Queen Elizabeth and a Renaissance wench costume on this page. If you want to get more elaborate, go for the 18th century costumes. Dresses like the “Josephine” can be used for any Jane Austen heroine, and the Madame du Pompadour can just as easily be Marie Antoinette or whomever you like. There are also very elaborate court costumes for both the ladies and gentlemen.

The national dress costumes run mostly to the sexy, such as Spanish dancers both male and female, but they are still comparatively accurate.

Making Classic Fancy Dress

If you want to be sure the costume you’re putting together is historically accurate, whether you are renting it or making it yourself, an excellent site to use for reference is Fashion-Era, which has dozens of articles and detailed fashion plates from 1800 through to the modern day. There are tutorials, patterns, further links and resources for plus size costumes. There are also a number of patterns for children’s costumes, ranging from historical choices to Christmas pageant outfits to the ever-popular Harry Potter.

For those who can seriously sew and want much more elaborate gowns to channel their inner Scarlett O’Hara, go to Harriet’s, which has an incredible selection of patterns for 19th century gowns, ranging from those that only require some basic sewing knowledge to those that demand you be an expert tailor.

Whether you want to evoke a character, a season, or just a laugh, there is always a fancy dress costume that will capture your mood!